


A Moment of Clarity

by monophobian



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drabble, F/M, Post-Canon, Sparks Fly in July, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25425307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monophobian/pseuds/monophobian
Summary: With Naraku defeated and the jewel gone, there was no more endless rushing across the country for the next shard. No more early mornings that robbed her of that time at night. Kagome could think of nothing better than spend some time to search out those constellations she was always failing to find at home.Kagome thinks she's going to look at the stars alone. Kirara has other plans.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/Kouga
Comments: 14
Kudos: 84
Collections: Sparks Fly in July





	A Moment of Clarity

The sky was so clear in the feudal era. Kagome remembered all the different nights she’d spent in her sleeping bag looking at the stars, wishing she could stay up and watch them. Every time she went home, it was another jarring reminder of what all that smog and light pollution did to hide the sky — and what their fast paced traveling kept her from enjoying.

But now with Naraku defeated and the jewel gone, there was no more endless rushing across the country for the next shard. No more early mornings that robbed her of that time at night. Kagome could think of nothing better than spend some time to search out those constellations she was always failing to find at home.

Kirara was waiting for her when she climbed out of the well, her yellow backpack only half full. Now that she wasn’t toting around all of her school books or medical supplies, she could focus on fun things to share. This time, a couple books on astronomy, a star chart, and a few snacks were all she had.

Climbing on Kirara’s back, Kagome pet her hand through the thick fur. “Take me to a mountain, Kirara,” she asked. “Somewhere I can see the sky.”

There was no answering rumble, only a nod of her head before she was bounding off. There had been a large drop in questions since the end. Since Kagome and Inuyasha’s relationship fizzled to nothing but a husk. Returning after three years had done a number to them — Inuyasha’s struggles with abandonment only highlighting her own insecurities at being the one he settled for instead of the one he chose. She should have seen it coming, but hindsight and stupidity and being blinded by love and all that.

And maturity, she reminded herself, a gentle grace she’d been slowly learning to embrace. Her understanding from fifteen to eighteen was vastly different and even the years from eighteen to nineteen and then twenty had helped her grow in even more ways. She could be friends with Inuyasha now. Well — if he allowed it again. Those lines were so blurred, it was easier to let him have the space.

Since then, Kagome had been exploring the land. Kirara had become her unspoken partner, helping her travel back to the well from the village Sango and Miroku settled in. It wasn’t often they took adventures like this one without anyone else, but they weren’t going far. At least Kagome didn’t think they were. There were plenty of options for Kirara to land in.

The cool night air was a relief from the beating sun. Summers were always so hot. Riding on Kirara without the protection of the trees was always a double-edged sword during the day, but at night? Kagome felt practically invincible.

It was a new moon, casting a darkness that wasn’t usually present. With a pang, she wondered what Inuyasha was doing. Since returning, Kagome learned that Inuyasha stayed with Sango and Miroku on his human night, finally finding a place he could trust. Maybe that’s why she didn’t want to return just yet. Maybe she wanted another night to be free.

Kagome couldn’t wait for whatever was broken between them to finally be healed. She ached for that friendship that had once meant so much to them.

Kirara was moving steadily, the flame around her paws helping Kagome watch the land as they flew by. Valleys and trees and streams and little huts along the rivers, it was comforting to be back in a place with quiet. Home was starting to get too loud, too noisy, too bright, too _much_. She wondered if maybe she was supposed to stay here.

But if so, why did the well keep her away for three years?

There was a shift in altitude and Kagome tightened her thighs as Kirara descended. It wasn’t a far descent, the cat slowing down to land gently on a small cliff overlooking a waterfall. It was wholly familiar and Kagome couldn’t help but smile.

“If you didn’t want me to be alone, you could have said something.”

She was answered by a low trill and Kirara tossed her head, lowering to help Kagome get off. She slid to the ground, backpack hanging loosely off one shoulder and looked around. Kirara butted her head against Kagome’s back and Kagome laughed at the push. Silly cat.

Kirara hopped off the cliff and Kagome was almost certain that when she returned, she wouldn’t be alone. Kagome found a good spot, a patch of soft grass before the rocky ledge started and fished a blanket from her bag. Laying it out, she fished out a small flashlight and some of the books, waiting to see just what that feline had in mind.

Though if Kagome were honest, she wouldn’t mind the company. Someone to share the information with, someone to look at the stars with, someone to talk to. That was one thing she missed from her home. At home, she could call up a friend or walk to the park and meet people. Here everyone was a little more secluded, a little more cautious. It was great when she wanted to be alone, but sometimes that loneliness crept up and took over.

“Is there a reason your cat dragged me out of bed?” a gruff voice asked from the cliff edge, Kirara landing on the grass with Kouga on her back. From the look of him, Kagome was hard pressed to think he _hadn’t_ been in bed. His hair was loose around his shoulders and he wore his normal soft furs, yet none of the armor she usually saw him in.

“Hello Kouga,” Kagome answered with a smile. “I wanted to see the stars and she brought me here.”

Kirara tossed her head with a grumble, then shrank down to her kitten size. It took Kagome’s eyes a minute to adjust to the loss of light and when she could see, Kouga was lowering himself to sit next to her on the blanket and Kirara was curling up in her lap.

“I’m sorry she woke you,” Kagome offered. “I would have told her not to if I’d known you were sleeping.”

“I wasn’t sleeping.” He stretched out his legs, the move looking so different without the typical guards protecting his shins. “One of the new moms was having a rough night with her pups. Just couldn’t get them to sleep. I took over so she could get some rest.”

“Did they eventually fall asleep?”

“Yeah.” He ran his hand through his hair, shaking it out so it flared down his back. “They were just being brats. Wanted to see how much they could get away with.”

“A lot, I’m guessing?” Kagome teased.

Kouga huffed. “Almost as much as you do.” Before she could respond to that remark, he grabbed one of the books sitting in front of her. “So what is this?”

“A book.”

“Brat.” He shot her a completely unamused look as he flipped the book open. “What’s it _for_?”

“Stargazing.” She sat up, grabbed her small flashlight and clicked it on. Being careful of the sensitive eyesight of her companions, she flashed the light over the pages. “It tells you what constellations are supposed to show during the different times of year. I figured with a new moon, I might be able to see some of them.”

“You mean humans tracked when the stars change?”

“Of course,” she answered. “It started with the sailors so they knew which way to travel at night.”

He hummed, a sound she was starting to recognize as respect. “So which one are we in?”

Kagome shifted closer, her shoulder leaning against Kouga’s as she flipped through the pages and looking for the summer chart. “This one,” she tapped, looking over the page to find the correct hemisphere, “and we should be able to see these constellations.”

Kouga studied the page for a minute, one claw gently tracing over the images. “You think we’ll be able to see all of them?” he asked quietly.

“Maybe?” She opened one of the charts, letting out a happy exclamation when she found a larger, clearer map. “Here, this one is better.”

Kouga closed the book and set it back on the pile, taking the chart so it wouldn’t be sitting on Kirara’s head.

“I’m thinking we can go one by one?” she offered. “Figure out the first one we can find and then go from there?”

He looked at the chart, up at the stars, and back to the chart. Another trace of his fingers and then he looked at her. “Whatever you want.”

Smiling, she covered the light from her flashlight and searched out the first one. It was a little tricky to find, Kagome needing to adjust where she was looking until she found the little dipper. Checking back with the chart, she pointed for Kouga. “See? That bright star right there?” She waited for Kouga to nod. “That’s the end of the handle of the little dipper, see?”

Kouga looked to the chart and his face lit up with a smile. “And that means…” he trailed off slightly before pointing on his own, “there’s the big dipper.”

She smiled, leaning further into his warmth.

“Alright, so we found those. That means Draco should be—”

“What is Draco supposed to look like?” Kagome asked, bringing up her flashlight to look at the chart only to find the chart didn’t paint the picture of the constellations, just connected the dots. “Hold on.” Grabbing another book, she flipped through until she found the right page. “Okay, Draco is supposed to look like a dragon.”

“Oh, there’s the head,” Kouga said. Kagome looked up and found the quadrilateral, then followed the tail. “The colors shift with the rest of its body.”

Furrowing her brows, she clicked off the flashlight and let her eyes adjust to the dark. Slowly, the shades of the galaxies became clear and she could see how a strand of stars became a winding serpent’s body. “Oh,” she whispered. “That’s beautiful.”

“Who is Hercules?” Kouga asked, his gaze back on the chart.

Kagome realized that he could see without the flashlight as he looked over the chart, flipping back and forth between that and her book. “In another country, they have stories about gods having children with humans. Hercules is the son of the main god, Zeus.”

“And he’s half-human?” The question was quiet and thoughtful, his gaze heavy.

“He is.”

Kouga studied the chart once more and then looked up. She didn’t bother with her flashlight — it would only hinder his search — and there was something about being out here with him. Something calm and soothing and… _nice._

He shifted back on his elbows, head thrown back as he searched the sky. Had Kouga always had this quiet concentration hiding under his brash courage or was this something the years had shown him?

“That?” he scoffed, pointing toward another cluster. The chart rustled as he checked what he was looking for, then tossed the chart onto the books she had. “That doesn’t look like a man, it looks like an insect.”

Kagome leaned back, twisting to try and see what he was referring to. “Where is it?”

“Here.” He touched her arm and laid back on the blanket, helping her get comfortable as she followed him down. When she was ready, he angled his head next to hers and pointed toward what he was seeing. “There, you can make a shape and then the stars shoot out—”

“That _does_ look like an insect,” Kagome giggled. “With the antennae at the bottom?”

“Is that the little extra things they have on their head?”

Her giggle turned into a full laugh. “Yeah, that’s it.” Looking at the full expanse of the sky, Kagome breathed out a sigh as Kirara curled into a ball at her hip. “What else do you see?”

“From the chart?”

“No,” she shook her head. She could wiggle a bit to reach the star chart, but she didn’t want to. Finding Draco and Hercules was wonderful, but making out an insect with Kouga was even better. “Just like this. What do you see?”

She could feel Kouga’s gaze on her even in the dim light from the stars. He was studying her, his mouth twitching at her laughter. Turning to the sky, she watched him take in the expanse of the sky, his gaze flicking over until he traced something. “There.” He shifted closer, his head next to hers again as he pointed out one particular cluster of stars. “You see how the colors swirl up on the right? Doesn’t it almost look like a deer?”

Kagome followed his hand, finding what he was referring to. It took a second to see it, but— “Oh! It’s grazing!”

She could feel his smile. “Yeah.”

“No antlers,” Kagome murmured to herself. “So a doe. You can almost make out her little tail,” she added, looking around the sky. “Think we can find her mate somewhere?”

“Maybe,” Kouga replied softly, his arm falling down to rest along hers.

Kagome was already looking, trying to see if she could piece together something into a pair of antlers. Across the sky, she found something that could work. Her fingers danced along his to get his attention. “Over there, under the cluster of brighter stars?”

He followed her direction, his fingers shifting under hers, slowly sliding along her skin. Kouga was quiet at first, then breathed out a soft laugh. “It looks like there’s moss stuck in his antlers.”

Kagome giggled at the idea. “Maybe that’s why he’s all the way over there. Wants to clean it all off before she sees him.”

Kouga’s fingers kept moving until he was entwining them in hers. Her heart thud in her ears, her breath almost stuttering as she felt the rasp of his calluses, the warmth of his touch. It was simple, gentle, soft. When he didn’t press for any more, but instead pointed out what he thought could be a rabbit, Kagome sighed out her breath.

Maybe, she thought as they continued looking at the sky. Just maybe.


End file.
